Shopping for Memory Care? A New Bill Forces Facilities to Put Their Hidden Rules on Paper.

The Bottom Line

If you're looking for a memory care facility for a loved one, this new law forces them to hand over a standardized "cheat sheet" detailing their hidden fees, security protocols, and restraint policies before you sign anything. It also helps facilities deal with the nursing shortage by allowing trained nurse aides and LPNs to administer medication by injection, lowering the reliance on expensive Registered Nurses.

What This Bill Actually Does

Choosing a memory care facility is often a frantic, emotional process driven by glossy brochures rather than hard facts. HB26-1107 changes the landscape by creating a mandatory dementia care services information form. By January 1, 2027, the state will finalize this standardized document. Then, beginning July 1, 2027, any licensed facility that publicly advertises memory care or dementia services must complete this form and provide it to anyone inquiring about care. It acts as a mandatory transparency report.

The bill outlines exactly what must be on this form, stripping away marketing spin. Facilities must disclose their guidelines for using physical and chemical restraints, their specific security features to prevent wandering, and their exact criteria for transferring or discharging a resident. They must also lay out a clear fee schedule—detailing exactly what services cost extra and how they will notify authorized representatives before jacking up the rates. Furthermore, they are required to provide a direct link to the federal "Care Compare" website so families can look up past enforcement actions, warnings, or fines the facility has received. If a facility fails to provide this form or keep it updated on their public website, the state now classifies it as a deceptive trade practice under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, which carries heavy financial and legal penalties.

Beyond transparency, the second half of the bill addresses a massive operational headache for healthcare facilities: the nursing shortage. Currently, state law tightly restricts who can administer medications by injection. HB26-1107 legally expands the scope of practice for Certified Nurse Aides (CNAs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs). Once these professionals complete specialized education and training (the exact curriculum will be set by the state Board of Nursing), they are legally authorized to give injections. Crucially, the bill explicitly forbids facilities from adopting policies that require an expensive Registered Nurse (RN) to be on-site just to supervise an LPN or CNA giving an injection.

What It Means for You

If you've ever had to find residential care for a parent or spouse with Alzheimer's or dementia, you know how opaque the industry can be. You tour a beautiful building, but it's incredibly difficult to figure out what happens when your loved one's condition worsens. Come July 1, 2027, the power dynamic shifts in your favor. When you contact a facility, they are legally required to hand you their completed dementia care services information form. This allows you to compare Facility A and Facility B apples-to-apples, using state-mandated metrics instead of relying on their sales pitches.

This form forces facilities to answer the uncomfortable questions in writing. You will know exactly what their chemical restraint guidelines are—meaning you'll know under what circumstances they might sedate your loved one. You'll see their exact discharge criteria, so you know exactly what behaviors or medical changes would cause them to kick your parent out. The mandatory fee schedule disclosure is also a massive win for families on a fixed budget. Facilities will have to plainly state which services are covered by the base rate and which ones cost extra, completely eliminating the surprise "tier-level" billing hikes that often blindside families a few months after move-in.

On the medical care side, expanding who can administer injections will have a direct impact on your loved one's daily comfort. Currently, if a resident needs a routine injection—like insulin or certain vitamins—they might have to wait until a Registered Nurse is on shift. By allowing highly trained CNAs and LPNs to handle these injections, your loved one gets their medication faster and more reliably. Ultimately, reducing a facility's reliance on 24/7 RN staffing could also help stabilize the skyrocketing monthly costs passed down to residents.

What It Means for Your Business

If you operate a licensed assisted living, residential, or memory care facility, this bill introduces a strict new compliance regime with serious legal teeth. By July 1, 2027, you must have your dementia care services information form completely filled out, published on your public-facing website, and ready to hand to any prospective client. This isn't just administrative paperwork—failing to maintain this form, or lying on it, is now legally classified as a deceptive trade practice. This exposes your business to enforcement actions from the Attorney General and potential lawsuits from families. You need to spend the next year auditing your marketing materials and internal policies to ensure your disclosed fee structures, discharge criteria, and restraint protocols actually match your day-to-day operations.

However, the bill also hands facility operators a massive operational victory by addressing the RN staffing bottleneck. By legally allowing Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and Certified Nurse Aides (CNAs) to administer medication by injection, you are no longer chained to the requirement of having a Registered Nurse (RN) physically on-site just to facilitate routine shots. The legislation explicitly bans policies that require an RN to be present as a prerequisite for qualified LPNs or CNAs to do this work. Once your staff completes the required training, this newfound flexibility will significantly lower your overhead, ease your weekend and night-shift scheduling nightmares, and reduce your reliance on expensive temp-nurse staffing agencies.

If you run a nursing education program or a healthcare training business, this legislation creates a highly lucrative new market. The Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the State Board of Nursing will soon establish the minimum course content required for this new injection authorization. Getting ahead of these rulemaking sessions and being first to market with certified injection training modules for CNAs and LPNs will make your program incredibly attractive. Facilities will be desperate to upskill their existing staff, creating a steady stream of B2B training contracts for savvy educators.

Follow the Money

According to the nonpartisan fiscal note, this bill is highly efficient and costs state taxpayers virtually nothing. The Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) will absorb the minimal costs required to draft the standardized form and update their licensure rulemaking by utilizing existing resources. If necessary, the department is authorized to use money from the Assisted Living Residence Improvement Cash Fund to cover any administrative bumps.

There are no new state appropriations required, and the financial impact on local county and municipal governments is zero. The only potential state revenue generated by this bill would come from enforcement—if a facility violates the disclosure rules, the resulting administrative citations and fines would send a nominal amount of money back to state coffers. But fundamentally, this is a regulatory shift designed to regulate private business practices without expanding the state budget.

Where This Bill Stands

HB26-1107 is currently Signed Into Law. The latest official action came on 05/04/2026: Governor Signed.

That means the legislative process is complete and the bill is now law. The remaining questions are about implementation timing and how agencies, businesses, or local governments respond.